In "Araby" and all the short stories in Dubliners in general it is easy to percieve that Joyce has a crisp and pervalent sense of diction. This is because of the setting in which he describes being Ireland, and this encourages a sense of Irish vernacular. It is written in clear and easy to understand English, with a very expansive range of vocabulary. Diction is a pertinent aspect of James Joyce's works, this is especially apparent in his work of Dubliners, which is a collection of short stories depicting industrial Ireland throughout the 1900s.

It is said that James Joyce's diction is complex and poly-syllabic. Throughout the story, Joyce uses words like "anguish", "darkness", "blind". "quiet", and "vanity" to further express the tone and mood of the story. His in-depth descriptions of setting and the seemingly bland interactions between characters helps to further evoke the theme of disappointment and frustration with love. The words spoken by the characters are distinctly Irish, with the usage of words and expressions like "O" and "fib". The description of the church in the beginning creates an underlying theme of religious devotion and presence, however faint it may be.

The effects of Joyce's diction is that he makes the reader wonder at certain words and phrases, and often doesn't make comprehension as straight forward as it could be. Due to the large amount of foreign readers, the Irish vernacular is simple and straight forward enough that anyone can pick up exactly what is being read, and keeps the reader interested with the use of Ireland-specific slang and words.

Link to:
Plot Characters Setting Theme Mood/ Theme Perspective Literary devices

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